Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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3. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current waiting times for citizenship applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38235/24]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Recently we saw a ceremony for those people who have gained their citizenship. These are very happy occasions and I am sure they are one of the Minister's favourite engagements as Minister. The processing time, however, still seems to be touching upon two years for many and some applications even exceed that. We are talking here about people who are working and playing a huge role in our society. What can the Minister say to those who are waiting this long and who need and want to make life plans that centre on their status?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for the question on citizenship applications. I am pleased to provide an update to the House on the ongoing improvements being made to the processing of citizenship applications. Just last week, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, had the honour of attending a ceremony in Dublin Convention Centre, and on behalf of myself and the Minister I congratulate all of our newest citizens and their proud families.

Processing times are now decreasing year on year. This is a result of re-engineering and streamlining the process, the introduction of a very successful online digital application, as well as online payments and the introduction of e-vetting. My Department has increased its decision-making capacity, which has had the effect of increasing the number of grants of citizenship applications from 13,598 in 2022 to 18,279 applications in 2023.

I am happy to note that, in the first six months of this year, a total of 16,000 decisions were made. The median processing time for a decision on an application in 2023 was 15 months. This was down from 19 months in 2022. While a figure for this year is not yet available, based on current output and application levels, my Department expects that the median processing time will decrease again. In fact, my objective into next year is that the majority of people who submit their naturalisation applications on the basis of residency by means of the new online digital form will receive a decision within 12 months. I look forward to delivering on this objective and acknowledge the commitment and excellent work being done by the citizenship division of my Department to improve the service provided to applicants.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to refer to correspondence that came in to Deputy Pa Daly's office. It came from an Irishman who is married to a man who does not have Irish citizenship. His husband had exceeded the wait time considerably and he was in contact with a number of others who were in the same situation. Many people received emails from the Department of Justice stating that there was a delay but that the cases of people who applied in 2022 would be prioritised in chronological order during 2024. However, two days ago, thousands of approval letters were sent to people who applied in late 2023 and others who applied this year. In fairness, this is in keeping with what the Minister of State said, namely that he is confident there will be no major delays and that what we are looking at is a streamlining of the situation.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge that in the past there were significant delays in processing citizenship applications. What the Minister, the officials in the Department and I have done to streamline matters and introduce a new processing system with the online application form and e-vetting has led to a significant change in the processing time relating to citizenship applications. I am confident that by the end of the year we will be in a situation where processing times will be even shorter. By next year, the aim is to have the processing time down to under 12 months. We will continue to work on that.

There will always be individual cases in respect of which particular challenges will arise. I am not referring to the particular case the Deputy mentioned but there are individual cases. We will certainly continue to get processing times down to a reasonable level.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That is very positive, and it should be the aim. It is a matter of making sure it happens.

Regarding workflows in the Department, there have been backlogs in respect of a number of immigration permissions. The Minister of State referred to citizenship applications and the processing of asylum applications. The numbers have risen in all these areas. I suppose only so much can be done at times, but we need to make sure that decisions are made much faster.

There has been a great deal of commentary about the speeding up the processing of asylum applications. Even in cases where countries are included on the list of safe countries or the lists for the fast processing of applications, are we guaranteeing that applications are being processed within three months? I am informed that when this happens, it leads to a reduction of almost 50%, even more in some instances, in the number of people applying.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Significant work is being done in the Department to ensure that all applications, be they in respect of citizenship, asylum or whatever, are dealt with in a speedy and timely fashion. It is acknowledged that significant work needed to be done in this area. This work is being carried out.